Car-starter



(No Model.) Ml

GAR STARTER.

No. 264,124. Patented Sept. 12, 1882.

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UNiTEn STATES PATENT @FFICE.

MEBRIGK M. BARNES, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

CAR-STARTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 264,124, datedSeptember 12, 1882,

Application filed January 21, 1882.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MERRIGK M. BARNES, ofBoston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in (Jar-Starters, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention is intended principally for application to street-cars;and its object is to facilitate and render easy the starting of the car,to the end that the severe and sudden strain upon, and consequent wearand injury to, the horses incident to the effort to move such a deadweight may be avoided.

My invention consists of mechanism, fully described below, by means ofwhich power applied to the draw-bar in the ordinary manner iscommunicated not directly to the car-body, but in an efficient manner toan axle, causing the wheels to accomplish a partial rotation, moving thecar, before the draw-bar has begun to act directly upon the car-body;and this preliminary power is, by means of said mechanism, greatest atthe beginning of its application to the axle, and grows gradually lesswith the accelerated movement of the car until the draw-bar begins toact directly upon the carbody, when it ceases altogether, and the carbeing well in motion, the horses can easily keep or accelerate its speedwithout any sudden strain having been experienced.

ln the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters of referenceindicate like parts, Figure 1 is a plan view ofthe under side of thebottom of a car-body provided with mechanism embodying my invention.Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is asimilar section enlarged. Fig. 4: is a horizontal section taken on line00 00, Fig. 3.

A represents the bottom of the car-body; A, the axle of the forwardwheels, A, and a the axle of the rear wheels, to.

B is a ratchet-wheel fixed upon the axle a between the two sides orportions of the frame G, which flank the wheel B on both sides, andwhose rear ends surround the axle a loosely, its front ends beingsecured to the bar D, held in the supports D.

Placed loosely upon the axle a, on both sides of the wheel B, betweenthe two parts of the frame 0 and the collars F, are theupwardly-extending plates or arms E, connected and approaching thebearin gs N.

(No model.)

by a rod, E, and held vertical by the spring 6, which connects one ofthem with the car-body, as shown, by means of the pin e on the formerand the screw 6 on the latter.

G is a pawl supported loosely by the rod E, and adapted to fit into theteeth of andengage the ratchet-wheel B. This pawl is provided with twofriction-pins, g 9, one on each side, which project against the sides ofthe frame 0, being held against them by the springs h h. A cross-pin,70, extending across the frame 0 behind the pawl, acts as a check, asbelow described.

His a link connecting the arms E, by means of the pin E, with theelbow-lever I, which is pivoted upon the pin D at one end, and has itslong arm pivoted to the connecting-rod J. The rod J connects the lover Iwith the draw-bar K, which extends under the guides 70 7c (the formerbeing provided with a roller) to the forward end of the car.

L L are wings which, when the car is at rest, lie against the back stop,M.

N N are strong blocks or pieces of angleiron, usually provided withcushions on their rear faces, and adapted to sustain the forwardpressure of the wings L and act as bearings for them after the starterhas completed its work.

The operation is as follows: The car being at afull stop, horse-power isapplied to the forward end of the draw-bar, with the result that thesaid draw-bar is gradually drawn outward, its wings leaving the backstop, M, The forward motion of the draw-bar pulls, by means of theconnecting-rod J, the long arm of the lever I upward and forward towarda horizontal position and its short arm downward toward a verticalposition, hence drawing forward, by means of the link H, the upper endsof the arms E, thus causing the pawl G to engage the wheel B, whichrotates until the mechanism has assumed the position shown in brokenlines, Fig. 3, and other intermediate positions unnecessary toillustrate, and finally until the power of the lever I has beenexhausted and its long arm has assumed a horizontal and its short arm avertical position. When this is the case the wings will be against thebearings N, and the car, having been fairly and easily started, will bedrawn along without straining the mechanism. It will be seen that whenthe draw-bar is first pulled the lever I exerts its greatest power uponthe axleand wheels, this power decreasing as the draw-bar is drawnfarther out. Thus the greatest power is obtained when mostneedcd, andthis power decreases as it islessneeded-i. 6., as the car is gettingunder headway-and owing to the length of thelong arm of the lever I andits position when the car is at a standstill the exertion required ofthe horses is very slight at first. W Vhen the rods and levers haveaccomplished their work of aiding the starting of the car and the wingsL are against the angle-irons N, a pin, 0, may be dropped into thedraw-bar, so as to prevent longitudinal movement through the action ofthe spring e, and the strain will thus come entirely and constantly uponthe car-body. Upon stopping the car, if the pin 0 has been used, itshould be removed so that the springe may be enabled to draw the partsback into their original positions. The movement of thelower end of thepawl G is guided in its direction not alone by the link H, but by suchlink as modified by the pressure of the pins 9 g against the stationarysides of the frame 0, the movement being thus a compound one, and ofsuch a nature that the application of power to the draw-bar causes thepawl to engage the wheel B, and the'rear action of the spring 0 causesit to entirely leave said wheel, so that there is no rattling soundproduced by clicking over the teeth, as the pawl is not in contact withthe wheel, being guided therefrom, as above described. The cross-pinIt)" prevents the pawl mama would be apparent, and the pin 0 could beutilized by dropping it into a corresponding opening in the draw-bar,which is at the rear end of the car, as in Fig. 2, and connected withthe mechanism not then-in use, thereby preventing any accidentalengagement of the pawl G with the wheel B,oonnected with such unusedmechanism, such as might occurif the lever I were struck or the draw-bartampered with.

In constructing the frame 0 it is considered advisable to elongate theslots 0, which secure it to the bar D, in order to accommodate therelative movementof the car-bocly Aand, axle a.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a car-starter, the combination, with the car-body, cf theelbow-lever I, pivoted to or upon the bottom of the car,as shown,one armof which lever is connected by a rod or link, J, with the draw-bar, andthe other arm of which is connected by the link H with a pawl adapted toengage a ratchet-wheel fixed to one ofthe car-axles, for impartingrotary motion to the axle and ri'inning-wheels fixed thereupon in such amanner that the power exerted by the lever is greatest at the start andgradually decreases until the draw-bar draws directly upon the car-body,all constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

2. In combination with the stationary plates or frame 0 andratchet-wheel B, the pawl G, provided with the spring-pins g g, (one ormore in number,) bearing against said frame 0 and projecting fromopenings in the side of the pawl, and adapted to guide the movements ofthe free end of the pawl hen motion is imparted to its pivotal portion,substantially as and for the purpose set forth above.

MERRIOK M. BARNES.

Vitnesses:

HENRY W. WILLIAMS, J osnrn ISHBAUGH.

